‘Barbie’ vs. ‘Poor Things’ at the Golden Globes: Close race to decide the year’s best comedy
One of the premier categories at the 2024 Golden Globes is shaping up to be one of the year’s closest races. Best Film Comedy/Musical is a tough call between “Barbie” and “Poor Things,” with both films telling stories of female self-actualization in their own idiosyncratic ways.
“Barbie” goes the blockbuster route, viewing the title doll (Margot Robbie) through a modern feminist lens. It scored the most nominations at these awards (nine), which may be why it’s the odds-on favorite to win Best Film. It’s backed by eight out of 11 Expert journalists, 13 of our Top 24 Users and 15 of our All-Star Top 24.
But most of Gold Derby’s Editors — six out of 10 — think that “Poor Things” has the advantage. It’s the artier option, telling the story of a woman (Emma Stone) on a journey of discovery after being resurrected by an eccentric scientist (Willem Dafoe). It’s additionally supported by three Experts, 10 of our Top 24 and eight All-Stars.
The directors behind both films have been at the Globes before. “Barbie” director Greta Gerwig had a previous film win this category, “Lady Bird” (2017). The very next year “Poor Things” filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos helmed a nominee in this race, “The Favourite,” but despite winning for Olivia Colman‘s lead performance, it lost Best Film to eventual Oscar champ “Green Book.”
And both of their current films scored nominations pretty much everywhere they were expected to, including for writing, directing, acting and music. While “Barbie” does have the advantage when you tally up all the nominations (“Poor Things” has two fewer at seven), we must keep in mind that “Barbie” received four of its bids in categories “Poor Things” wasn’t considered for: Best Original Song and Box Office and Cinematic Achievement.
Take those noms away and suddenly “Poor Things” seems to be the likelier choice. At the very least we have to consider the playing field pretty level between the two front-runners. So will the Globes go for the populist crowd-pleaser or the ecstatic art-house pic? We’ll find out January 7.
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